


When the Sun Sets

by almosthuman_butnotquite



Series: Guns for Hands [6]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/F, Fireworks, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-04
Updated: 2016-07-04
Packaged: 2018-07-22 11:00:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7434207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/almosthuman_butnotquite/pseuds/almosthuman_butnotquite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It won't be anything like it was before the war, but Snow says she has a few ideas for fireworks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When the Sun Sets

**Author's Note:**

> My family didn't celebrate the 4th of July this year. My parents are uh... fighting, I guess. They don't talk much lately, so we don't do much as a family right now. So I wrote this instead!
> 
> Snow is my Sole Survivor lady.

Preston has always heard stories of the fourth day of July, of Independence Day. No one in the Commonwealth celebrates it after all this time, but Snow mentions something in the way of a celebration one afternoon. It won't be anything like it was before the war, but Snow says she has a few ideas for fireworks.

Snow charges Piper with the meat, grilling Radstag burgers and Yao Guai ribs. Codsworth and Curie bake buns and an amazing mutfruit cake while Nick and MacCready hang up decorations. Snow asks Danse and Preston to help her with the fireworks.

"What colors do you think?" Snow asks.

"Blue?" Danse offers.

Snow scribbles it down. "Okay, so blue. Preston?"

"Red? And maybe orange?"

Why did she ask them to help her pick colors? They should be painting her deathclaw Cuddles with the colors of the old world. Between the two of them, Danse holding the beast in place and Preston applying the paint, it could be done in thirty minutes.

"Hmm, maybe I can combine the colors of the old world flag together in one..." She bites at the end of her pencil. "What about green?"

Preston and Danse share a glance. She isn't really talking to them at this point.

Snow glances up. "Sorry. Um, has Cuddles been decorated?"

"No," Danse says.

"You think you two can handle that?"

"Danse in his armor is like one of those things. It'll be a piece of cake."  
—  
Cuddles is tame as a Radstag doe while they paint her. It's dark by the time they finish, and Snow gathers them all for the dinner Piper cooked. None of them can even recall a better dinner. Piper preens when they all echo the sentiment Snow throws out around a bite of her burger.

After dinner comes dessert. MacCready is, if not more so, just as curious as the rest of them as to how Curie and Codsworth had made the frosting for the round cake. It's the colors of the old world's flag, and they had somehow made the top of it mimic the design of the stars on the flag. Curie tuts at them all, something about a magician's secrets being revealed.

"This is amazing," Snow exclaims, nearly spraying the table with colorful frosting. "I don't know how you did it, but wow."

"Oh Mum, you could make me blush if I weren't made of metal!" Codsworth says.

"Thank you, Madame!" Curie says.

They eat the whole cake while various conversations echo around. Danse is oddly silent beside Preston. He doesn't even participate in a conversation between Piper and MacCready about synths that is slowly becoming heated. But when Snow, who he is sitting just to the left of, asks if he's feeling all right, he says stiffly that he's fine. Snow doesn't ask again.

Once everyone's plates are empty, Snow asks for everyone's attention, thankfully interrupting the synth argument across the table before it could get out of hand. "So, I have a surprise! We wouldn't be able to properly celebrate Independence Day without fireworks, so guess what I cooked up?"

Piper leans forward. "Uh, Blue, what are fireworks?"

"I'll show you guys. Come on, we're going down by the river."

They all follow her down the upheaved street and through the muddy grass to the river banks, where they all pick the driest spots they can to sit. Snow grabs a crate that had been set just far enough from the water's edge.

"Pip," Snow says softly. "Would you want to be my lovely assistant for this evening?"

Piper giggles as she stands up. "Sure thing, Blue."

Snow has Piper produce a lighter from her coat. She sparks a fuse at the base of the rocket and sets it down. She pulls Piper backwards with her. The rocket shoots up into the sky with a whistling sound, far above them, far higher than the Prydwen is even docked, before exploding into a bright array of reds and whites and blues with a loud blast. An echo of a sound of amazement rises up from them all and, while no one is sure who started the clapping, they all think it's Hancock.

"Wow," Preston breathes, and he feels Danse shift beside him.

Snow lights two more and this time, it's orange and blue together against the dark sky. The sky falls dark again and Preston feels Danse's hand over his. Another one, green as it crackles loud across the sky. The fireworks light them all in soft colors, lights Snow and Piper as they kiss.

The next one is purple, and Preston feels his heart jump into his throat when he finds Danse looking at him. Danse kisses him as the next rocket shoots up, just a shy press of lips, and they part as the color fades from the sky. No one seems to have seen, mesmerized by the display of fire in the sky, a piece of the old world, but neither Preston nor Danse will forget it. Not even as three more rockets whizz into the sky, bright red and blue and blindingly white.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are still appreciated!
> 
>  
> 
> [It's-a me!](http://almosthuman-butnotquite.tumblr.com)


End file.
